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Not the Trailer

Provisional classrooms for primary schools

Last copies

Many schools have to contend with the tension between an inflexible building and constantly changing requirements for use. WiMBY! (Welcome into My Backyard) therefore commissioned three designers to develop SchoolParasites, provisional structures, flexible in application and striking in design, as an attractive alternative to the usual trailer-type provisional classrooms. The first three SchoolParasites were erected in the Rotterdam suburb of Hoogvliet in spring 2004. The aim is for these models to go into production and be available for every school in the Netherlands and beyond.
This book documents the designs of Barend Koolhaas, Onix and Christoph Seyferth. It also covers far-reaching questions on the interaction of education and architecture, on the inventiveness of the schools themselves, on permanence and temporariness, and on how intelligent, flexible solutions can play a role in the restructuring of post-war urban areas. Old and new photographs of the schools, and short personal essays, complement the homage to the ‘ordinary’ school, as many will remember it. The anonymous schools of the post-war era are thus given a face and a history of their own, reflecting the architectural history as well as the social development of the area.